Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose to its highest in more than
a week in New York on signs of economic recovery in the U.S.,
while sanctions on Syria stoked concern Middle East crude
supplies may be threatened.

Futures advanced a second day, gaining as much as 4.1
percent to more than $100 a barrel. U.S. retail sales during
Thanksgiving climbed 16 percent to a record. The Arab League
imposed sanctions on Syria after the country refused to halt a
crackdown on protesters. The country produced an average of
332,000 barrels of crude a day in August, according to the
International Energy Agency.

“We’re likely to see Brent back up to $115 by year-end,”
Christopher Bellew, a senior broker at Bache Jefferies Ltd. in
London. “Prices will be supported by colder weather, declining
inventories and a positive start to the U.S. shopping season.
But Chinese demand remains enigmatic, and the stronger dollar
will be a negative influence.”

Crude oil for January delivery on the New York Mercantile
Exchange advanced as much as $3.97 to $100.74 a barrel, the
highest since Nov. 17, and was at $99.68 at 12:51 p.m. London
time. Prices have risen 16 percent in the past year.

Brent oil for January settlement climbed 2.4 percent to
$108.93 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe
exchange. The European benchmark contract’s premium to West
Texas Intermediate narrowed to $9.25 from $9.63 on Nov. 25 and a
record $27.88 on Oct. 14.

U.S. consumers spent a record $52.4 billion during the
Thanksgiving weekend, according to the National Retail
Federation, citing a survey from BIGresearch.

Syria Sanctions

The Arab League’s sanctions on Syria included a freeze on
financial assets in Arab countries and a travel ban on senior
officials. Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is under pressure to
end an eight-month crackdown against demonstrators. Oil soared
to the highest level in more than two years in May as unrest in
North Africa and the Middle East toppled leaders in Libya, where
crude production was almost entirely halted, Tunisia and Egypt.

Libyan output now exceeds 750,000 barrels a day, and the
country’s second-biggest refinery is operating at full capacity,
the state-run National Oil Corp. said on its website yesterday.
Output slipped to 45,000 barrels daily from about 1.6 million
after the revolt against the former regime of Muammar Qaddafi.

Prices also gained as Mexico shut its three largest oil-export terminals because of bad weather. Petroleos Mexicanos,
Latin America’s biggest crude producer, closed Cayo Arcas,
Coatzacoalcos and Dos Bocas in the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico’s
Merchant Marine said yesterday in its daily weather bulletin.

Hedge-funds and other money managers cut bullish bets on
Brent crude by 5,356 contracts in the week ended Nov. 22,
according to data from the ICE exchange. Speculative bets that
prices will rise, in futures and options combined, outnumbered
short positions by 57,523 lots, the London-based exchange said
today in its weekly Commitment of Traders report.